Review: Red Rising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The war begins...

Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars. Generations of Helldivers have spent their lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will allow the planet to be terraformed. Just knowing that one day people will be able to walk the surface of the planet is enough to justify their sacrifice. The Earth is dying, and Darrow and his people are the only hope humanity has left.

Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. Mars is habitable - and indeed has been inhabited for generations by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. The Golds regard Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

With the help of a mysterious group of rebels, Darrow disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield. And Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda..


***Spoilers***
The Golds make each of the initiates go through the passage, basically, each of them is put in a room with one other initiate and the one who lives moves on. Darrow is forced to kill Julian in order to survive. The remaining Golds are split into groups and are each given a home they must protect with the task of conquering the other groups, and making them their slaves. Darrow rises in his group, but he has a tenuous grasp on his power. When his friend Cassius finds out that it was Darrow that killed his brother, he tries to kill Darrow. He only lives because after he was left for dead, the girl called Mustang saved him and nursed him back to health. Darrow learns from his mistakes and knows he will never gain favor by making slaves of the people he captures, that he can only succeed if his army chooses to fight for him. He gains the nickname The Reaper because of the curved blade he favors. The Jackal is head of the Pluto house, and the one Darrow will have to beat in order to win the game. He is also the ArchGovernor's son, and the Gods watching over the games are all cheating to help him win. When Darrow starts to hurt their chances of winning, they plot against him. It eventually turns into a full-blown battle at Olympus, but Darrow succeeds. Mustang turns out to be the Jackals twin sister but throws her loyalty in with Darrow. He takes a position in the ArchGovernor's house, knowing in order to start the revolution that will free his people, being as close to his enemy as possible gives him the best chance.


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